Lonely consumers and their friend the retail salesperson

Rippé, Cindy B.; Smith, Brent; Dubinsky, Alan J.

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.013

Cited by 38 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The novel premise of this paper is that a high sense of belonging produces a positive affect state, and this positive affect then incidentally transfers to product evaluations creating a halo effect. Prior research supports this proposition in that fulfillment of one's need to belong leads to satisfaction and happiness that then contributes to positivity in other aspects of life as well (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Rippé, Smith, & Dubinsky, 2018). This reasoning also aligns with the research showing that a consumer's incidental positive affect (e.g., from having a good day, spending time doing something they enjoy, getting a good night of sleep) can positively influence product evaluations (Barone, Miniard, & Romeo, 2000; Bosmans & Baumgartner, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Religiosity and consumer belonging: Influences on product evaluations

Minton

Liu

2020

J of Consumer Behaviour

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Consumers have a fundamental need to belong. Prior research has examined the compensatory mechanisms that consumers use to restore belongingness when they have a low sense of belonging. However, research has yet to adequately understand the influence that having a high sense of belonging has on consumption behavior. Thus, three studies are conducted to address this gap in the literature, specifically examining religiosity as a source of consumers' high sense of belonging. Study 1A identifies that religiosity positively influences consumers' sense of belonging and corresponding product evaluations because belongingness creates a positive affect state. This affect then incidentally transfers a positive halo effect to product evaluations. Study 1B replicates the sequential mediation from Study 1A but only for those products that are value expressive. Studies 2 and 3 then better isolate these effects by priming religion (Study 2) as well as general social acceptance and rejection (Study 3). Findings reveal that only religion and acceptance primes influence consumers' sense of belonging and product evaluations. Discussion builds on need‐to‐belong theory and implications for marketing practice are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Religiosity and consumer belonging: Influences on product evaluations

Minton

Liu

2020

J of Consumer Behaviour

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ironically, some lonely people are found to be shy, introvert, and lacking in social skills to develop meaningful social relationships with others (e.g., Jones et al, 1982). To overcome these issues, some lonely consumers may engage in self‐regulatory efforts, such as shopping for consumption and recreation (e.g., Kim et al, 2005; Pettigrew, 2007) and interacting with the retail salesperson (e.g., Rippé et al, 2018), which could help them cope with their loneliness.…”

Section: Theoretical Background and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demystifying the link between emotional loneliness and brand loyalty: Mediating roles of nostalgia, materialism, and self‐brand connections

Loh

Gaur²,

Sharma

2021

Psychology and Marketing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper explores the mechanism by which consumers use their self‐brand connections and emotional attachment with brands to cope with the emotional loneliness that may be caused by the absence of intimate relationships with close others. The authors also examine the mediating roles played by nostalgia and materialism on the reinforcement of brand loyalty in this process using a multistage model. An online survey with 456 Malaysians working adults supports all the hypotheses. Specifically, emotional loneliness has positive associations with nostalgia and materialism, both of which mediate the positive associations between emotional loneliness and self‐brand connections. Self‐brand connections also mediate the positive associations of nostalgia and materialism with emotional brand attachment, which in turn mediates the positive association between self‐brand connections and brand loyalty. The authors discuss the theoretical contribution and managerial implications of these findings.

show abstract

“…The traditional communities, which are geographically-bound, are in decline in the fragmented modern society, whereas the brand communities are fast-growing on social media, which create social relatedness and ease loneliness [ 1 ]. In an offline setting, Smith, Rippé and Dubinsky [ 4 ] and Rippé, Smith and Dubinsky [ 5 ] investigated how the lonely consumers ‘befriend’ the in-store salespersons to cope with perceived deficiencies of social relationships.…”

Section: Lonely Consumers: Psychological Commercial and Social Immentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The recent advancement in communication technologies might come as a solution to the prevalent loneliness, yet constant connectivity via social media and personal mobile devices does not guarantee meaningful interactions [ 4 ]. Research has shown that people now have fewer quality social relationships, despite the increased quantity of online interactions [ 5 ]. Consumers end up with more, but weaker, connections that are technology-mediated and commensurately fewer strong ties that are essential to foster a sense of belongingness [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Community; Gender Social implications Orth, Cornwell, Ohlhoff and Naber [ 68 ] Consumers’ loneliness and anthropomorphism tendency moderate their responses to brand visual, leading to brand liking Brand; Anthropomorphism; Persuasion Commercial implications Pieters [ 34 ] Loneliness contributes to materialism, and materialism reinforces consumers’ loneliness to a weaker extent depending on the subtypes of materialism. Materialism; Reciprocal effect of loneliness; Attachment to nonhuman Psychological implications Rippé, Smith and Dubinsky [ 5 ] Loneliness (social and emotional) contributes to consumers’ interaction with in-store salesperson, which leads to purchase intention and retail patronage In-store interaction; Marketplace relationships Social implications Smith, Rippé and Dubinsky [ 4 ] Loneliness (social, emotional and physical isolation) leads to enjoyment of in-store interaction with salespersons. In-store interaction; Marketplace relationships Social implications Snyder and Newman [ 57 ] Lonely consumers express a higher intention to join brand communities in seek for belongingness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rise of ‘Lonely’ Consumers in the Post-COVID-19 Era: A Synthesised Review on Psychological, Commercial and Social Implications

Wang

Wong

Yuen

2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Loneliness is a pervasive problem recognised as a serious social issue, and the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated loneliness to greater prominence and concern. We expect a rise of a massive group of ‘lonely’ consumers who are deeply entrenched in the social isolation caused by COVID-19. There is an urgent need to revisit the phenomenon of lonely consumers to better prepare academic researchers, public policy makers and commercial managers in the post-COVID-19 era. Thus, this study conducts a synthesised review on past studies of lonely consumers. Based on an inductive analysis of 56 articles, 74 key themes are identified. These key themes are further categorised into five major clusters by way of a co-occurrence network analysis. Respectively, the five clusters address the psychological implications related to the dynamics between nonhuman attachment and consumers’ loneliness, the commercial implications related to the paradoxical motivations of affiliation and self-affirmation in product selection and the dual information processing mechanism in response to advertisement appeals, and the social implications related to consumers’ well-being in an ageing society and the anthropomorphic companionship in a virtual world. A list of research questions is proposed that concludes the review study.

show abstract

Lonely consumers and their friend the retail salesperson

Cited by 38 publications

References 67 publications

Religiosity and consumer belonging: Influences on product evaluations

Religiosity and consumer belonging: Influences on product evaluations

Demystifying the link between emotional loneliness and brand loyalty: Mediating roles of nostalgia, materialism, and self‐brand connections

Rise of ‘Lonely’ Consumers in the Post-COVID-19 Era: A Synthesised Review on Psychological, Commercial and Social Implications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About